If you had paid for the butchering and the meat, I would say you should go to the butcher and ask if there was a chance your meat was mixed with another animal.

As far as beef cattle vs. dairy cattle, it's in the diet. Corn (and standing around) makes the tenderness. Most beef cattle grazes freely and then before slaughter are brought to pasture and feed corn. We just had a dairy cow butchered with a friend and it's delicious. Tender, sweet meat with steaks that melt in your mouth including the chateabriand.

If you had paid for the butchering and the meat, I would say you should go to the butcher and ask if there was a chance your meat was mixed with another animal.

As far as beef cattle vs. dairy cattle, it's in the diet. Corn (and standing around) makes the tenderness. Most beef cattle grazes freely and then before slaughter are brought to pasture and feed corn. We just had a dairy cow butchered with a friend and it's delicious. Tender, sweet meat with steaks that melt in your mouth including the chateabriand.

No, I didn't pay for the meat or the butchering. It was a gift from my MIL. If I had paid for it I would be complaining big time.

I thought the reason dairy cow was tough was age. The meat tastes fine. But, pieces that should be tender aren't.

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May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live.
Robert A. Heinlein

taxy, do you have a jaccard? if not, you can always tenderize tougher meat by stabbing the heck out of it with a fork. and i mean go to town on it.

i've had shoe leather london broils and round steaks that i've made really tender by either a jaccard or forking.

I never heard of a jaccard before, so I googled. I don't understand why jaccard or forking wouldn't make it leak all the good juices. I'd be willing to give that a try on a couple of those stupid, tough "king steaks". I'll just braise or pot roast or stew most of the rest of it. If I can find a piece with a nice long stretch where the fibres all go the same direction, I can make a roulade and braise that. Roulades are fun and pretty.

__________________
May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live.
Robert A. Heinlein

Tax, what color is the meat and fat,age will be a problem if it is a cow, I always thought that here in the UK cows are only slaughtered when the stop producing milk due to them being not able to calf,they are sold to the Knacker man for pet food, if it is bullock meat the color is still relevant as it is a sign of how long the meat has hung.
I buy my meat from a farm shop with it own abattoir, I buy a "choice cut" (the rump,sirloin, fillet on the T bone) it is weighed and payed for fresh then hung for 32 to 38 days, it loses about 15% of its weight in moisture evaporation, the meat goes from pink to dark red, the cut ends blacken, the flavor is fantastic,pre cooking the meat is dry to the touch and you can cut it with your finger.
Calves of either sex are good eating.

Tax, what color is the meat and fat,age will be a problem if it is a cow, I always thought that here in the UK cows are only slaughtered when the stop producing milk due to them being not able to calf,they are sold to the Knacker man for pet food, if it is bullock meat the color is still relevant as it is a sign of how long the meat has hung.
I buy my meat from a farm shop with it own abattoir, I buy a "choice cut" (the rump,sirloin, fillet on the T bone) it is weighed and payed for fresh then hung for 32 to 38 days, it loses about 15% of its weight in moisture evaporation, the meat goes from pink to dark red, the cut ends blacken, the flavor is fantastic,pre cooking the meat is dry to the touch and you can cut it with your finger.
Calves of either sex are good eating.

Good point about the colour. I can't really look at it now, 'cause all the beef is in the freezer wrapped in brown butcher paper. If I remember correctly, the meat and fat were the same colour as meat at the supermarket - medium dark red meat and slightly yellowish white fat. I haven't found any black bits that would indicate hanging, but they could have been trimmed off. I have no idea what this meat looked like before it was frozen. It's definitely not dry to the touch when I defrost it.

That meat from the farm shop sounds great. Is it expensive? Or do you get a good deal for buying a lot of meat at once? I've never seen anything like that here. Of course the province of Quebec is trying to (or maybe already did) get rid of all the small abbatoirs. Don't get me started.

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__________________
May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live.
Robert A. Heinlein